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Memphis libraries seeking funding

MEMPHIS — The public library system in Memphis is hoping to secure $2.9 million to add employees and increase its collection.

The Memphis Daily News reports the Memphis Public Library & Information Center cites the figures as part of its strategic plan.

A study by the Friends of the Library and the Memphis Library Foundation found that during the past five years, the system’s budget has been cut 21 percent and hours were reduced 20 percent.

The goal of the new funding would be to add 47 employees to the 18-location library system and increase the collections budget to $2 million from less than $1 million.

The new employee count and collections budget would each be comparable to what library systems have in comparable cities, according to a comparison by two consulting groups.

But the amounts are not in the administration’s operating budget proposal, and library director Keenon McCloy said the plan is more of a “roadmap for the future.”

The proposed libraries budget for the upcoming fiscal year is $16.1 million, about $200,000 less than the adopted budget for the fiscal year and about $100,000 less than what the budget is forecast to look like at the end of the current fiscal year on June 30.

The administration of Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. proposed closing five library branches last year. Four of the five remain open. The fifth is on the market for sale.

The Memphis library system has regional libraries, but the usage of the neighborhood branches also is high.

The Memphis system is what McCloy calls a “hybrid.”

“The anticipation in the regional model was that you’d close a neighborhood location to make way for fewer but larger locations,” she said. “I think it’s unlikely that the city would have funding in the (capital improvements) budget any time in the foreseeable future to construct all of these additional libraries that would be required. Those also cost much more to operate on an annual basis than the neighborhood. It’s not actually a cost savings.”

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